This will be a refreshing final, devoid as it is of the usual suspects and pitting together two teams who play very different styles. Yet Stoke City's direct approach has been tempered steadily over an improving season, as they have sought to maximise their width with two raiding wingers. Previously, they had been labelled as tough, direct-play merchants reliant upon a long thrower – all of which made them hard to embrace. Now their approach is more mixed, although Manchester City will still be aware of the importance of defensive marking when Rory Delap's deep but speedy low-trajectory throws are fired in.

Manchester City will require everyone to mark up tightly, as well as using a shielding player in front of Stoke's first attacker as Delap prepares to deliver. Defensive difficulties arise in this situation because the attackers are able to accelerate into the box with momentum, whereas Manchester City's players will have to be guarding their area and relying more on standing jumps to deal with the tall Ryan Shawcross and the highest leaper in the league, Kenwyne Jones.

Joe Hart has to command and must clear out the six-yard box with his presence. The first throw of the afternoon will set the tone: if Hart can catch cleanly, it will give his team-mates immediate confidence. Delap will try to deliver his throw-in line with the corner of the six-yard box. Here, a back-flicked header is often met by an on-rushing Stoke player anticipating the touch on. The eyes of the defensive players must be fixed both on opponents and the ball. They must position themselves so their immediate opponent is never out of their sphere of vision, but also ensure they are not solely focused on the ball – a sideways stance, half and half.

If the first ball is flicked on regardless, then Manchester City's players must not be attracted purely to the ball. They have to keep tracking their men. Several of Stoke's goals this season have come from inside a crowded penalty area where one defensive individual has lost that vital focus, losing concentration for a fraction of a second. Manchester City, the tallest side in the Premier League, will be aware of how to combat the threat, but how many teams have been prepared, aware and still conceded?

The other threat posed by Stoke these days is down the flanks. Manchester City will have to rely heavily on their full-backs to stop crosses as Jonathan Walters is excellent coming in from the right side of the box to head left-sided crosses. Jones, equally so. And Jermaine Pennant can provide. As a youngster, his defects were a lack of discipline and goals for a thrusting winger, but he was always a naturally gifted crosser of the ball. Marc Albrighton of Aston Villa has similar qualities, but may end up scoring more himself.

Matthew Etherington, hopefully, will be fit to patrol Stoke's opposite flank. When I signed him for Spurs, he found it difficult, as many do (my mind drifts back to Bobby Zamora), swimming in a bigger pond. But he has matured since and emerged as a rhythmic mover with a great early-ball delivery, bent past the last defender to give invitations to score. If absent, he will be a big miss. If available, he will be a thorn in Manchester City's side. Yet, if Roberto Mancini's team can cope with these twin thrusts, they can win this game. They will have to show more adventure to win over the neutral viewers, but they undoubtedly have enough talent in their ranks to make this the first glittering landmark of the Manchester City project.